Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, presents an article entitled “Repercussions of dynamic testing”. The article is authored by Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher with the company, and focuses on the possible negative effects of dynamic testing with malware authors using data generated by the tests.

New, effective protection methods make the work of malware authors, who are motivated by a desire for illegal profit, more difficult. When any new protection method appears, cyber criminals devote their efforts to getting detailed information about the method, and to developing technologies to circumvent it. Because of this, the author of the article believes, the IT community should adhere to safe procedures for dynamic testing.

In his article, Roel Schouwenberg describes the methods used to test antivirus products: static, dynamic and retrospective testing, as well as response time testing. He notes that data from dynamic tests are more valuable to malware authors than data generated by other types of test, as they provide information on characteristic samples and protection methods.

The author stresses how important it is to restrict information about the results of dynamic tests, as well as data on multi-scanners (online services which use several vendors’ products to scan potentially malicious files.) He also believes that educational and marketing activity should be designed so as that it does not increase the risk of new malicious programs being created.

Roel Schouwenberg, who is a member of AMTSO (the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, which unites antivirus vendors, testers, reviewers and academics) believes that the organization should play a significant role in developing standards for safe dynamic testing.

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